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1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division 2014 Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Public Affairs Competition Category D Outstanding Digital Presence (Unit Category)

Ironhorse Social Media Program

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table of contents

engagement is key pg 6

capitalizing on success pg 5

speaking to our audience pg 4

as we move forward pg 7

a growing presence pg 3

ironhorse social media pg 8

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a growing presence

2014 January 1: 7,803 December 31: 15,346 Total Increase: 7,543

2013 January 1: 6,917 December 31: 7,803 Total Increase: 886

2012 January 1: 5,579 December 31: 6,917 Total Increase: 1,338

2014 marked the greatest amount of growth for the brigade Facebook page in more than two and a half years. In the chart below, you’ll see that we almost doubled the number of Likes in this year, compared to the previous two combined. It’s impossible to say how or why the page exploded the way it did, but there are three contributing factors that could provide some insight into the increase: 1) we revitalized the Flickr page and delivered high-quality photos, 2) we created a page for our brigade commander and drove engagement there, 3) our brigade was the NATO Response Force during the year, which enabled us to produce compelling and timely content.

We achieved the vast majority of our page Likes in the second half of 2014. From January 2012 – June 2014, a 30-month period, our page increased by a little more than 4,100 Likes. In the last six months of 2014, we increased by just over 5,600.

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The Ironhorse Brigade defined itself as the NATO Response Force in 2014. Being regionally aligned to European Command meant that our communication efforts had to be tailored to the new mission. We focused our social media program on two main audiences: 1) US and NATO allies 2) Ironhorse Soldiers and their Families

speaking to our audience

Since the brigade was gone for almost half the year in Europe training, Families became a primary concern when speaking to the audiences. Knowing that, we started tailoring specific content to our Families, namely the “Around the Saddle” video series. During Combined Resolve II (May-July), Around the Saddle became an effective way for us to deliver a weekly video about what was happening with our Soldiers in Germany.

watch an episode: http://youtu.be/LzKhcRJyrWY Photos were key to success in our mission to communicate with multiple audiences at once. By revitalizing the Flickr page, we were able to provide our audiences high-quality, top-notch photos that displayed the excellence of the Ironhorse Soldiers.

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Everyone loves a good video – and our team was awesome at making them. Problem was, we were making the wrong kind. Yes, our news packages were informative, well-produced and widely distributed, but we weren’t seeing the kind of engagement and reach we were hoping for. It wasn’t until we flipped out our phones, filmed something for a few seconds and put it online that we started to really see results. Videos don’t have to be hard – they have to be something people can relate to and that they want to be a part of. Bottom line, when something works, capitalize on that success to bring more people to the page.

capitalizing on success

AUG SEP

OCT

DEC

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engagement is key

A social media program without engagement is worthless. Posting content just for the sake of posting it does no one any good, which is why it was so crucial that the public affairs team cultivate trust with our audiences so as to encourage them to interact with our page. Quick responses to messages, sharing posts, and responding to comments in a timely manner are all key to success in building successful engagement. We saw a steady increase in engagement especially during our training mission in Europe.

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as we move forward

The 1st Brigade social media program isn’t perfect, and there’s always room to grow. By analyzing the data from 2014 and recognizing the trends, we have been able to engage with our audiences in meaningful dialogue. Relationships matter, and social media is where we can continue to develop what we’ve built and reach out to audiences beyond Soldiers and their Families.

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ironhorse social media

https://www.facebook.com/1stBCT1stCD

https://www.flickr.com/photos/1stbct-1stcd/

https://twitter.com/1BCT1CD

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRMkygpa2a9FrwzcXDhukxQ

https://www.facebook.com/ColonelDiGiambattista